Rookie 911 operator talks couple through baby’s birth

AMERICAN FORK, Utah — A Utah family is safe with their newborn girl thanks to the quick and calm thinking of a 911 dispatcher.

That dispatcher was on the job for only a few months but stayed on the line the entire time with Laura and Aaron Meyerink to talk them through the baby’s delivery over the phone.

It happened in the early morning hours of Nov. 18 when Laura Meyerink went into labor in her bathroom.

“I hear Laura up inside and I go into the bathroom and she’s holding her water,” her husband explained.

Laura said, “When I woke up to when she was born, it was less than an hour.”

The couple had only one choice — to call 911.

You can hear how calm Aaron Meyerink and the 911 operator, Jasmine Baum, were during the delivery.

Meyerink: “She’s dilated, super hard.”

Baum: “OK and you said she’s crowning? So do you see the head?”

Meyerink: “No, but we’re about there.”

Baum had been on the job only five months.

“It just so happened that they got me, I guess,” she laughed. “I know that most inspectors don’t get that type of call for years, so I kind of thought it was a joke for a second. But it was not.”

“She was able to keep both of us calm and clearly communicate what needed to be done,” Meyerink said.

The couple said Baum’s instructions made all the difference as they waited for the ambulance.

They are grateful that little Caroline was born safe and sound, even if it wasn’t the birth story neither the family nor dispatcher expected.

“It’s a first for us and a first for her, so we super appreciate the help and that of emergency services too,” Meyerink said.

The family gave little Caroline a special middle name. “Aurora” is another name for the flashing northern lights, much like the ambulance lights that greeted her on her birthday.